Preview: The Bench on tour

Award-winning journalist Jeff Brown’s play The Bench to Tour North East & Cumbria in 2025

A CaroleW Productions & Gala Durham Co-Production

The Bench - A moving tale of love, loss and football

Touring the North East & Cumbria

Thursday 22 May - Saturday 21 June 2025

Written by Jeff Brown 

Directed by Olivia Millar-Ross

CaroleW Productions and Gala Durham are thrilled to announce that The Bench, the highly acclaimed play by award-winning sports reporter and former BBC Look North presenter Jeff Brown, will tour the North East and Cumbria in Spring 2025.

This captivating work brings to the stage a touching and humorous tale about love, loss…and football. Set against the darker side of the beautiful game and life on the economic edge, The Bench is a poignant, heartwarming and sensitive love story about two young people struggling to survive against the odds. Vicky is a single mum overwhelmed by the pressures of everyday life, while Adi - the local team’s new signing - is struggling to find his place both on and off the pitch.

Seemingly worlds apart, the pair discover they have more in common than they might have at first imagined.

Informed by his nearly 40 years covering news and sport in the North East, Jeff’s rich storytelling brings authenticity and depth to the play. As he explains, "I wanted to shine a light on the pressures faced by young people trying to survive and pursue their dreams in today’s world—whether they’re dealing with family responsibilities or the intense scrutiny that comes with professional sport. It’s a football setting, but it's a universal story.”

Jeff Brown

For the character of Vicky, Jeff drew on his role as a patron of Sunderland Carers - hearing stories of young people who sacrifice their own childhood to look after others. Adi was inspired, in part, by Middlesbrough footballer Britt Assombalonga, who was born in the Congo and left his home country to pursue a football career.

Co-producer Carole Wears from CaroleW Productions said: “Working with Jeff and Gala Durham to bring this show to life is a match made in heaven (if you’ll pardon the pun). This play is everything CaroleW Productions strives to achieve - a compelling, well-told story that we can’t wait to share with audiences. The Bench is a play rooted in the North East but with universal appeal. It’s a beautiful piece in which Jeff has masterfully tackled global issues of displacement, racism in sports, and life on the breadline, weaving them into a tender, funny, and heart-warming love story.

Previous production of The Bench.
Photo: Wycombe 89 Media 

We’ve assembled a wonderful creative team to do justice to this beautiful work, and we’re excited to tour the region and share it with audiences far and wide.”

The Bench is Jeff’s second play. Following a successful debut at The Customs House in South Shields in 2023, the production is now set for a long-anticipated regional tour. Starting on Thursday, 22 May 2025, at Gala Durham, the play will travel to theatres and community venues across the North East and Cumbria until Saturday, 21 June 2025. With stops from Alnwick Playhouse in the north to Saltburn Community Theatre in the south, the tour will also bring performances to community spaces across County Durham, Cumbria, and Northumberland as part of the Highlights Rural Touring Scheme.

Audiences can look forward to a mix of humour, warmth, and social insights that will appeal to football fans and non-fans alike.

The North East & Cumbria tour of The Bench is supported by Show Racism the Red Card, the UK’s leading anti-racism educational charity, which will have a presence at every performance and participate in post-show discussions.

Tickets:
To find out more and book tickets, visit www.carolewproductions.com/the-bench

Suitability: Approx. 2 hours including an interval

Duration: 14+


Tour Dates & Venues (more dates to be announced in 2025)

Thursday 22 May - Saturday 24 May – Gala Durham
Tuesday 27 May - Coundon & Leeholme Community Centre
Wednesday 28 May – The Exchange 1856, North Shields
Wednesday 4 June – Middlesbrough Town Hall
Thursday 5 June – Arts Centre Washington
Friday 6 June - Alnwick Playhouse
Sunday 8 June – St Johns Hall Meadowfield
Tuesday 10 June – Queen’s Hall Arts Centre, Hexham
Wednesday 18 June – Bishop Auckland Town Hall
Thursday 19 June - Saltburn Community Theatre
Friday 20 & Saturday 21 June – The Customs House, South Shields




More dates will be announced in 2025 including additional rural and community venues in County

Durham, Cumbria, and Northumberland presented as part of the Highlights Rural Touring Scheme.